ViPeE Completes Hand Pumps Costing US$6K in Foya District

One of several hand pumps constructed under management of VIPeE in one of the villages

Many towns and villages in Foya have started to benefit from safe drinking water through the construction of hand pumps in the district at a cost of US$6,000, as part of the Village People Empowerment Group (ViPeE) initiatives in Lofa County, according to ViPeE executive director Rudolf Janke.

In a dispatch from Berlin, Germany, Mr. Janke noted that since 2010, safe drinking water was agreed upon by all stakeholders as a basic human right. However, he added that there are still numerous villages and settlements in rural Liberia which have not had access to safe drinking water for the past several decades.

Mr. Janke said the ViPeE has been supporting the construction of wells with hand pumps in Foya District from 2008 to 2017 but there are still countless villages that do not have safe drinking water.

He recalled that in May, 2018 three hand pumps were constructed in collaboration with Liberia Freunde of Germany and the German Embassy in Monrovia.

Construction and installation work in Gbongoma, Borma, and Tuladu was organized and supervised by a rural water technician residing in Kolba City, Kolahun District, while the work was carried out by the villagers themselves, said Mr. Janke.

He said a water manager will soon be nominated to collect monthly water fees from the beneficiaries and the funds will be used to finance repairs.

He also added that such small fees will buttress maintenance costs instead of depending perpetually on external support from foreign organizations.

He disclosed that the German Embassy near Monrovia provided US$3,300 and the rest of the financial contribution came from members and associates of the VIPeE in Germany, United States and Liberia.

He said everybody is aware that development cannot be sustainable without financial support from the community, district and the county and therefore officials of government in the sector should be aware of it.

Mr.Janke said materials such as sand, gravel, and provided manpower to buttress the efforts of the water technician were mobilized in those villages.

“Such independence or self-dependence gives everybody a good feeling in the struggle to replace the missing activities on the side of the government, local or regional as well as on the national level as it is in all societies where taxes are collected on a general level to finance the necessary infrastructure of education, health, communication, and mobility,” he explained.

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